14 May 2014News

Study reveals crisis of confidence over cyber coverage

Security professionals at this year’s Infosecurity Europe exhibition have said that very few have faith in cyber liability insurance, with 63 percent of respondents believing insurers would fail to honour a claim if one was made.

In fact, trust is so low that 32 percent of UK businesses don’t even bother seeking this increasingly vital cover. With the costs of data breaches on the increase, organisations could find themselves not only out of pocket, but out of business if the worst should happen.

The study, sponsored by AppRiver, found that, amongst those respondents whose organisations were covered by cyber liability insurance - just 18 percent of those surveyed - special measures had been introduced as part of policy requirements in 38 percent of cases. Just under a third (32 percent) said that this had not been necessary, with 39 percent unsure.

Jim Tyer, EMEA channel director for AppRiver says, “It’s alarming the high percentage of people who have little to no faith in the insurance industry. That said, and playing devil’s advocate a little, with as many as 91 percent of organisations claiming to have suffered a cyber attack, perhaps the insurance sector should issue a collective sigh of relief that nearly a third of organisations aren’t seeking cover.”

None of the respondents who had cyber liability insurance, had had to make a claim on their policy.

Tyer adds, “While this could be viewed as positive, it did raise two thoughts. Firstly, it means there’s no reassurance for the 63 percent of respondents whose faith in insurance is non-existent, unfortunately. However, more importantly, the likelihood that no-one has suffered a breach is unlikely meaning either a percentage of people lied, hadn’t made a claim even though they’d suffered a breach or, in my opinion the most probable, are blissfully unaware of their current security posture! Not a particularly comforting thought.”